Steel and concrete, for example, are two materials commonly used in the construction industry. Frequently, structures built from concrete, steel, or other materials have a coating applied to the surface of the construction material. The surface coatings may include paints, corrosion inhibitors, or surface sealers, for example. After a surface coating is applied to the material surface, the coating cannot be efficiently removed without the aid of power tool coating removal equipment.
Coating removal equipment is power assisted because manually removing a surface coating is prohibitively time consuming and expensive. Unique Systems, Inc., Lansing, Ill. manufactures power tool coating removal equipment. Surface coatings are removed to prepare the surface for additional operations, such as re-finishing with paint. During removal of a surface coating, dust, particulates, or contaminates may be generated and released into the work area. The particulates may be generated from the surface coating and the underlying material surface when the power tool is utilized to remove the coating.
Existing power tool coating removal equipment provides for removal of particulates generated during a coating removal process. Vacuum lines, for example, have been connected from a vacuum source to existing power tool coating removal equipment to collect and remove the particulates from the work area. The vacuum lines draw in air and particulates from the power tools so that the particulates are not released into the work area. The power tools are equipped with a brush to improve sealing power of the tool against the material surface to inhibit particulates from escaping from the tool into the work area.
Preventing particulates from escaping into the work area is important to provide a clean and safe working environment. However, existing power tool coating removal equipment connected to a vacuum source may exhibit problems. Particularly, multiple power tools may be connected to a common vacuum source. When one power tool is not in use, there is unrestricted air flow from that tool. This results in reduced effectiveness for the remaining tools as a higher percentage of the air flow and vacuum goes to the idle tool. This problem is compounded when more than one power tool is idle.
Therefore, a need exists to improve power tool coating removal equipment. More specifically, there is a need to improve vacuum removal of particulates when removing a coating from a material surface with a power tool. The present invention is provided to solve these and other problems.